Computers are used in a variety of ways in retail establishments. They not only are used to implement payments but they are increasingly used to promote goods and services to users on the premises of the establishment. Typically, computers in a retail establishment may be used to attract a customer's attention to a store display and then generate electronic coupons or the like in an effort to entice the customer to accept some offer at the display. To identify customers so their buying habits and preferences may be monitored and analyzed, many stores are instituting preferred customer programs. In these programs, customers provide some identification data, such as a name and address, and receive a customer token that contains or bears a unique identifier. The token may be a hard polymer tag bearing a bar code that may be coupled to a customer's key chain. When the customer goes to a checkout terminal to pay for goods or services, the preferred customer token is typically scanned so the data regarding the goods and services purchased may be associated with the customer identification code. This data may be stored and later analyzed for determining customer buying patterns and other important marketing data for an establishment.
In those systems where electronic coupons are generated, the scanning of a preferred customer token may be used to capture the preferred customer identification code. This code may then be used to query a database and, based upon the customer's marketing data, coupon discounts may be offered. For example, customers who have spent an amount of money with the establishment that exceeds some threshold may be offered greater discounts than one who has not reached the threshold. This system may then be used to give incentive to customers to use their preferred customer tokens in a store.
One problem with computer systems that read customer identification data, either from preferred customer tokens or financial token, such as credit cards or the like, is the contact required for token reading. Systems that read bar codes require transparent platens and laser readers that need to be oriented for optimal reading of the bar code. Additionally, the expense of such optical readers may be cost prohibitive for distributing the readers at a plurality of sites in a large establishment. Also, customers may tire of pulling their key chains from their pockets or purses for scanning purposes and choose instead to pass the coupon offer station. Although wireless transmitters encoded with a customer identification code may be used, a number of issues arise from their use as customer tokens. For one, wireless transmitters typically have sufficient transmission range that the simultaneous activation of a plurality of transmitters in an enclosed area may result in signal interference. Another problem may arise where the code identified in the wireless signal corresponds to financial transaction codes or account numbers for a customer. Persons desiring to obtain such codes in an authorized manner may carry receivers with memory devices so they can surreptitiously receive the wireless signals and stored them for later analysis.
What is needed is a system through which a computer system may receive customer identification codes without requiring optical scanners or the like.
What is needed is a system that receive customer identification codes without making the data susceptible to eavesdropping.